Prequel: Serenity has Taken Flight
by J.H.K. Fairmoans
Summary: This is a quick one-shot about Serenity in its early days of takin' sky. Enjoy! Please leave feedback and be sure to check out my other works! Rated M: for Language/dialogue/violent references.


I hold no copyright on the owner's original works, or anything relative to the current copyright holders' material that the following story is based on. This was written for non-commercial purposes.

Preface: This story is set after Mal and Zoey have gotten Serenity up and running with the help of Kaylee and Wash. Inara is busy "Companion-ing" on another moon. It is also set before Jayne, Shepard Book, Simon, and River were encountered and subsequently join the crew. Chinese translations are provided at the end of the story.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds made his way to the bridge of his Firefly class ship, _Serenity_. The ship was descending through the atmosphere and landed on a distant backwater moon. The last time they had been this far out from Alliance controlled space, there had been some complications. He had far more of those than he wished to think about. The pilot, Wash, had called him up to the bridge over the intercom. Mal had been busy arguing with Kaylee that they couldn't afford a replacement coil for the port aft landing strut and she'd have to jury-rig it with any scrap they came across.

"What is it that's 'not good' Wash?"

"Well, we're going to land."

"And what pray tell is wrong with that?"

"Notice I didn't say it would be smooth or comfortable."

Covering his face with one hand while he held onto the overhang in the cockpit, Mal groaned, "And why is that?"

"You know that thing you and Kalyee have been fighting about? It looks like the part decided to settle the argument."

"How bad is it gonna be?" Mal asked, as the burn from breaking through the atmosphere disappeared and the cockpit's uninterrupted view of the moon's desert surface. "_And we were a-runnin' early for a change. Why's there always gotta be a hitch?_" Crossed Mal's thoughts.

"Seeing as the reentry stress to the leg's housing is 'not a good thing' according to the readouts…when we land we will be stuck until we can repair it; provided we don't go _splat_."

"Going '_splat'_ ain't shiny Wash, get my ship down in as few broken pieces as possible, and we'll go from there." Mal turned his back from the bridge and made his way to the cargo bay so he could get this Xiong Mao Niao of a job over with.

"Aye aye Captain. No going splat is right by me." Wash replied to an empty room. He looked around when he heard no response. "_Ku._"

When they made landfall, they really did…the landing strut piece shattered from repeated stress and dipped the ship backward on its port side. It threw everyone along with the unsecured cargo in the main hold. No major damage to the systems the diagnostics computer reported. That is if you didn't count the one destroyed coil.

Take-off was going to be risky if they didn't fix it. The odd angle the main thrust was aimed at was obstructed and could easily damage the ship. Too much heat and pressure not allowed to vent properly could do a great deal of damage to a patchwork spaceship that was barely holding together as it was.

Mal left the ship to drop off their illicit cargo by himself. The people in these parts were clean honest folk that couldn't afford this type of cargo out here, normally. That and they didn't have permits for the stolen high-grade Alliance military small arms. Purple Bellies had a way of losing track of cargo when you slipped something into a platoon's round of drinks that had been "generously" donated to the local barracks a planet visit back aways.

The transaction went smoothly enough, but losing part of the payment to buy a replacement coil hurt. They were running dangerously close to red lining their finances and Mal knew it. As far as he was concerned though, that was the least of his troubles.

Problem was that fei hua Zoey was giving him lately about marrying Wash. Mal had nothing against either of them or being happy, but shipboard romances made things difficult. People weren't clear headed when their lover was in peril.

He was still in a bit of pain from what had happened to him the other day.

"You ain't marrying him and that's an order! Donh ma?"

"Shi Ma **_Sir?_**"

"It is."

***_WHACK!_***

Mal had fallen as the railing he had been leaning on broke. He fell from the catwalk above the cargo bay and onto the lower level. Zoey responded with a _very_ even voice, "Looks like _Serenity_ doesn't agree with that order either, **_sir_**." He didn't say another word to her for the last twenty-four hours.

Mal headed his way back on the mule bike when his radio squawked. "Mal, we're getting some weird signals. Could be Alliance, we're still cool though. I'd like to hoof it first chance we get."

"Tzao Gao. Tell Kaylee I got the part and I wanna have it right smart as soon as I get myself back there."

"You got it Mal."

Soon enough Mal arrived and met Kalyee, in her oil stained overalls, at the cargo bay entrance. She snatched the part off the mule before he had finished slowing down. As she took off with the part in her hand, Kalyee shouted back at Mal, "I'm goin' to it, Capt'n! You got none more of that trouble in no time!"

"I better not have any more of her fall apart, ya here?" Mal called back as he turned off the engine to the four-wheeler.

She didn't hear him, as Kaylee was well out of sight already. Mal was about to finally relax, maybe just outwait whatever patrol the Alliance had randomly sent to inspect its distant holdings, when his radio crackled again.

"Mal, there's an emergency call going out to us! You might want to get up here now!" Wash yelled loud enough Mal didn't need his radio to hear the man from the other end of the ship.

"Why is it never easy?!" Mal cursed to himself as he hauled his keester towards the bridge. When he reached it, he asked Zoey, who had taken to the bridge in Mal's absence, "What's the message?"

"I don't know. They were calling out for help. There was some screaming…and then, _nothing_. It didn't sound like Alliance trouble." Her voice was even as it always was, despite the fact she was not on the best terms of endearment with the captain at the moment.

"I just sold them enough guns for two militias! Wash, what was with that signal you was talkin' about?" Mal barked.

"I don't know. The only time I've even heard of a signal like this was about some of those 'Reaver' rumors back when I was in flight school-." Wash got interrupted.

"Did you say **_Reavers?_**" Mal shot back.

"Yeah, but that's just a bunch of go shi."

"Ta ma duh!" Punching his radio he shouted over it at Kaylee, "You done with that coil yet? We got more than one ching soh in the area!"

Coming back over the radio Kalyee whimpered, "Just finished Capt'n! Don't leave without me, I'm almost in!"

"Oh c'mon! _Seriously?_ Reavers are just some boogey-man rumors-." Wash started before getting cutoff by Zoey with a look.

"You're on my crew Kaylee, I ain't leavin' ya, but hurry the hell up!" Mal called back over the radio.

"I'm on Capt'n!"

"Get the ship ready to takeoff, but keep us cool, I'm not gonna have them know we're here if I can. Donh ma?

"Yeah, but are you serious, _Reavers?_" Wash restarted his protest in disbelief.

Zoey answered for Wash as Mal checked his gun, "Yes dear. And if they find us and board us, kill yourself before they get a hold of you or you'll wish you were dead by the time they're through with you." She cocked her gun as she did so and checked that the ammo levels were full. Wash gulped nervously and turned back to the controls.

Soon enough, the mystery signal disappeared and a very sickening looking ship smeared with what appeared to be red paint, random barbs, and other damages, gutted its way through the sky from the small frontier town Mal had just returned from. They stayed right where they were until several hours had passed since the disturbing vessel had flown out of radar contact.

Carefully, they flew over the town as Mal finally ordered them to takeoff. It was a burning and ravaged husk now. Bodies littered the streets, mutilated by sharp implements, some of which were still stuck in the deceased. They parked nearby, with Mal investigating for anything worth taking and Zoey standing guard by the cargo bay doors. Kaylee stayed in her engine room. She did not want to be anywhere near the place. Wash just looked out from the cockpit while keeping an eye on the radar. "Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing…"

After a bit Mal came back on board and called out over the radio as soon as the door was shut behind him. He had walked in backwards with his gun out so nothing would catch him off guard. He had nothing to show for his investigation. "Wash, dohn-luh-mah?" Mal called out over the radio as Zoey ensured the door sealed and locked behind him.

"Yes sir, we're making sky now."

"Good."

When everyone assembled in the galley much later, Wash asked him, "What were you looking for?"

"Anything we could use." Mal's voice was cold and focused.

"You were looting those people?"

"I have to keep my bird in the sky and we can't help those folks now anyways. I didn't find anythin' useful that wasn't booby-trapped anyhow."

Wash just stared at Mal, the Hawaiian shirt wearing pilot had nothing more to say about the subject. Getting up from his chair he left the galley with the parting words, "We're all shiny, clear skies, and autopilot has us on course. I'll be in my bunk. I don't think there's anyone in there who wants to kill us."

Zoey followed and joined him while Kaylee nodded her normally cheery face and walked back to the engine room.

Mal went to the cockpit and looked at the vastness of The Verse in front of him. He comforted himself by sliding his hand up and down the side of the ship before settling into the pilot's chair. "Ain't nobody gonna be touchin' any part of my crew or ship if I can help it." Mal said to no one but himself. _Serenity_ continued to contently hum its way along the space lane.

The End

Xiong Mao Niao –Panda Piss

Ku –Cool

Fei hua –Nonsense/crap talk

Donh ma –Understand

Shi ma –Is that so/oh, really

Tzao gao –Oh, crap

Go shi –Crap/shit

Ta ma duh –Motherfucker

Ching soh –Ruthless or savage beast of a person

Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing –I don't believe my eyes

Dohn-luh-mah –Are we clear here


End file.
